DIANA AND DODI 'OVER BEFORE CRASH'

Rodney Turner, a personal friend of the Princess, who supplied her with luxury vehicles, said he was told by the royal not to "fuss" as the pair had stopped seeing each other.

Mr Turner also described as a "bombshell" the revelation Diana made in a letter given to her butler, Paul Burrell, that her then husband, the Prince of Wales, was planning to have her killed.

The HR Owen director struck up a business relationship with the Princess in late 1995 when he began supplying her with BMW cars and they also had a personal contact as he sent his son to the prestigious Eton College public school where Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, both studied, the inquest jury was told.

Commenting on Diana's relationship, Mr Turner told the hearing in central London: "What she said to me was that it was all over, which was really a shock to me." He said the Princess added: "Don't fuss, don't fuss. It's all over. I've had a wonderful time."

Mr Turner's conversation with Diana about her relationship with Dodi took place in early August 1997 just before she left for a short break with her friend Rosa Monckton. But towards the end of the month the princess and Dodi spent time together on a yacht cruising the Mediterranean.

The jury were told that the director was opposed to the relationship because of the "reputation" of Dodi's father, Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed.

When Mr al Fayed's counsel Michael Mansfield QC suggested to Mr Turner that the princess could have used the words "don't fuss" in order to avoid a lecture from him about her chosen boyfriend the director replied "you could be absolutely right".

Asked by Jonathan Hough, representing the coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, whether the princess had mentioned a wedding the director replied: "She never said to me she was intending to get married to one particular person."

Mr Turner said the princess was having a "fine summer", was "very happy and extremely positive" and was looking forward to going back to work and seeing her sons.